


Between Rage and Reblogging

by Harleydoll



Category: X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cherik - Freeform, Fluff, Inspired By Tumblr, M/M, OTP Feels, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Realization
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-30
Updated: 2013-09-30
Packaged: 2017-12-28 00:30:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/985484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harleydoll/pseuds/Harleydoll
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That one where Charles has a tumblr account - inspired by Zimothy’s wonderful fic about Erik and Charles being nerdy internet boyfriends, and also some fic I read ages ago about Erik being the grumpiest, unapproachable roommate ever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Between Rage and Reblogging

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I am aware of exactly how cheesy my title is and I regret nothing. This has been floating around tumblr for awhile, and I figured it was long past time I added it to AO3 ^_^

Scroll, scroll, scroll…”Reblog,” Charles murmured, clicking the arrows in the top corner of the post. “Tags? ask me anything, my ask box is open, TMI Tuesday…that should do it.” 

He clicked the button labelled “Reblog” and continued to scroll down his dash, simultaneously refreshing his own blog in a second tab every few minutes. He reblogged a few more gifsets and refreshed the page one more time— and there it was, that magical red alert bubble that meant he had a message. Charles stifled a grin, acutely aware of his roommate only a few feet away and staring intently at his own laptop screen. No doubt he’s hard at work as always, Charles thought, while I’m still on Tumblr at 2 am. the brief flash of guilt he felt immediately dissipated as he read the newest message in his inbox: 

“iprefermagneto asked: 1, 4, 7, 8, and 12 :)”. Charles took a moment to consider his answers before beginning to type furiously, earning a look of disapproval from his roommate. 

"Do you have to smash the keys like that?" Erik growled. "I’m trying to study."

"Sorry," Charles offered feebly. Erik merely gave a noncommittal grunt and turned back to his computer. Charles frowned and continued typing, more quietly this time. _You think this constitutes keysmashing? You’re lucky we were home for the holidays when Reichenbach happened._ Charles knew his roommate hated him, and he couldn’t help but take it personally. He had tried to strike up a friendship in the first week, asking how Erik’s summer had been, what his major was, if he was going home for Thanksgiving, but Erik had brushed him off and told him he liked quiet when he studied, and would that be a problem? Charles replied that no, it wasn’t, he preferred quiet as well, and that had been the end of it. 

At first Charles had tiptoed around Erik, afraid to make the slightest disruption, and spent most of September crashing on Hank’s floor down the hall. After a while, however, Charles had decided that he had damn well paid for the room, and he had every right to be there. Well, he conceded, those had been his sister Raven’s words, not his, and she had just wanted him out of Hank’s room for her own benefit. He sighed and posted his reply, pausing only to tag it with “iprefermagneto” and “ask” before returning to his dashboard. He scrolled for a few minutes to see what he’d missed while answering and then refreshed the page, barely able to contain his excitement that iprefermagneto had already liked his answers.

 _This is stupid_ , he chided himself. _You don’t even know this person except for a few traded ask memes and fic prompts. Just because he sent you that one hugging gif from Merlin in response to a beautiful person award, doesn’t mean you’re best friends._

But it did, in a way, didn’t it? That’s what it was like on this website - you got to know someone through gifs and fanfic and flailing over the Doctor Who finale, and then suddenly you’re best friends and you time it so that you’re both online at the same time even if you have to be up at 4 am to catch them, or flip between Tumblr and lecture notes during class just to be able to reblog their posts. Charles knew almost everything about iprefermagneto from reading his personal posts about his mother passing away last spring, his subsequent financial difficulties, and his verbally abusive ex-boyfriend Seb that he’d dumped shortly before returning to school in September. Charles had made sure he was online through all of it, consoling his friend as best as he could through text and gifs.

He knew all the little things too, like his favourite colour, TV shows, and food, the way he organized his closet, and how he had to eat the food on his plate in a certain order or else he wouldn’t feel quite right for the rest of the day. Charles knew he was Jewish, that he had celebrated Hanukkah every year with his mother until she passed away, and that this year he had spent the holidays alone in an empty house and debating whether to light the menorah on his own or to just forget it. In the end Charles had convinced him to light them, and he’d even gotten his own menorah so they could do it together. iprefermagneto had thanked him over and over again, a jumble of words and gifs of the tenth doctor crying expressing just how much it meant to him. 

Charles glanced over at Erik, who had closed his laptop and was now collecting the books strewn across the tiny desk. If he’d been able to get to know Erik half as well as he knew his Tumblr friend, maybe this year could have gone a lot smoother.  
"I’ll be done in a moment, before you ask," Charles said, scrolling quickly through to see if there were any new posts from his friend. "I know you find the light irritating."

Erik raised an eyebrow. “Thanks, I guess,” he replied gruffly. he grabbed a towel and toothbrush and muttered, “Be right back,” before slipping out into the hallway, shutting the door softly behind him.

Charles sighed. Just a few more minutes, and he’d log off. It seemed his friend had gone to bed as well, but a couple of his favourite Doctor Who blogs were online, so he stayed on a bit longer to reblog some more.

"You’ve got a Tumblr?"

Charles jumped at the sound of Erik’s voice behind him and glanced at the clock in the lower right of the screen. Where had that 15 minutes gone?

"No. Yes. I mean." Charles blushed furiously as Erik leaned over his shoulder, narrowing his eyes at the NSFW Johnlock fanart that had just popped up. He hastily pressed the "back to top" arrow and kept his eyes fixed on the screen. "It’s just a stupid hobby, really. Nothing you need to concern yourself with." 

"That’s you?" Erik leaned closer, so close that Charles could feel his warm breath on his cheek. "Your url is rageandserenity?"

"Y-yes. Why?" Charles shifted uncomfortably. What was going on with him? This was probably the longest conversation they’d had all year.

Erik stared at the screen a moment longer, and then, without warning, spun Charles around in the chair and dragged him into a tight embrace. Charles inhaled sharply as his face was crushed against Erik’s shoulder, and he turned his head towards Erik’s throat so that he could breathe again. He inhaled sharply, breathing in the cool scent of Irish Spring, mixed with something else that was distinctly Erik.

"All this time—been right here—so stupid," Erik mumbled into his hair.

"Are…are you quite alright, Erik?" Charles asked carefully.

Erik pulled away and met Charles’ eyes. “I…I prefer Magneto.” 

……….

Erik could scarcely believe it. All those times he’d confided in rageandserenity, Skyped series 2 of Sherlock, reblogged massive gif spams back and forth when they didn’t have the words to express what they felt for each other, and he was right there, less than 5 feet away, doing the exact same thing. How could he have been that oblivious?

He knew the answer to that, of course. He’d been so wrapped up in his own personal tragedies that he’d shut everyone out, except for rageandserenity—Charles, he reminded himself, who was being oddly quiet while these thoughts ran circles around Erik’s head.

"Winter break," he tried again. "You spent the holidays with your sister and alcoholic mother, and I spent mine with no family at all. You made me join that Superwholock RP group as Moriarty—whoa!" He stumbled backwards and fell onto the bed behind him as Charles jumped him, wrapping his arms around Erik’s neck and crushing their lips together in a sloppy, desperate kiss, their limbs a tangled mess among Charles’ rumpled sheets.

"I always thought you hated me," Charles smirked. "but apparently you were just blowing me off to be with me online."

"I never hated you, online or off," Erik replied quietly. "It’s just been… things have been…"

"I know," Charles pressed a soft, chaste kiss to Erik’s lips. "And it’s alright. I understand now."

"I never would have made it through the last year without you," Erik confessed. 

"I never would have made it through Reichenbach without you," Charles answered seriously, and Erik burst out laughing.

"Probably not," he agreed, dragging Charles down for another kiss.


End file.
